June 12, 2009

Formula 1 slips the noose around its neck...

As someone who has been following Formula 1 for way longer than I would ever care to admit and who has always enjoyed the behind the scenes politics of it, I must say I'm bored and disgusted by the current situation.

Mr. Mosley wants to have a Formula Cosworth? Fine but it needs to be understood that if people were so eager to watch teams like Brawn, USF1, Campos and Manor battling it out, GP2 would be a ratings success. Last I checked, very few people cared about GP2.

That's really all there is to say about it, with all due respect to those new teams trying to join the party.

Mr Mosley may have stepped too far now. The European Automobile Manufacturer's Association has come out against himACEA MEMBERS SUPPORT CHANGES IN GOVERNANCE OF FORMULA ONE

Brussels, 12/06/2009 - Today, the members of the Board of the European Automobile Manufacturer’s Association discussed the current situation prevailing in Formula One, and have concluded that the current governance system cannot continue.

ACEA has come to the conclusion that the FIA needs a modernised and transparent governance system and processes, including the revision of its constitution, to ensure the voice of its members, worldwide motorsport competitors and motorists are properly reflected.

The ACEA members support the activities and objectives of the Formula One Teams Association to establish stable governance, clear and transparent rules which are common to all competitors to achieve cost reductions including a proper attribution of revenues to the F1 teams, in order to deliver a sustainable attractive sport for the worldwide public.

Unless these objectives are met, the BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Toyota along with the other teams are determined to find an alternative way to practice this sport in a manner which provides clarity, certainty of rules and administration, and a fair allocation of revenues to the competing teams.

About ACEAThe European automotive industry is key to the strength and competitiveness of Europe. The ACEA members are BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, FIAT Group, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen and Volvo. They provide direct employment to more than 2.3 million people and indirectly support another 10 million jobs. Annually, ACEA members invest €20 billion in R&D, or 4% of turnover.

Im also fed up with this story, but I disagree with the gist of your post that Formula 1 needs all these manufacturers. I mean, you look back to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and there were only ever 1 or 2 manufacturers in the sport building their own cars. It's only recently in the 00s that the manufacturers have taken over, and now everyone seems to forget what F1 really is.

I also disagree that Brawn, Campos, USF1 etc are similar to GP2 teams. GP2 is a one-make series. If those teams were to enter into F1, they would be manufacturing their own cars therefore the similarity to GP2 would be zero. They would be no different to a Brabham, Lotus, Mclaren (of 15 years ago), Tyrrel, Benneton etc. Just independents.

I sympathyse with FOTA's plight, they do need more control over the sport and if they got it it would be much better for everyone (apart from bernie and max haha) but if FOTA pulled out of the sport, in the long term, F1 would be no different. It would only be affected if FOTA set up their own championship.

Well, Campos and Manor ARE GP2 teams... IN the DFV years there were a lot of different teams but it was still about major manufactorers, after all Cosworth was owned by Ford, Sfter that came the Turbos, Renault, BMW, Porsche. I wonder how many remember the minor teams other than Minardi? Simtek, Andrea Moda, Coloni Eurobrun, Fondmetal, Coloni? Yes they filled the grid but generalli they were just moving chicanes.

The one good thing about small teams is that they allow for new talent to be seen, that alone may be a good reason to have them.